Hotel Rwanda Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)December 20th, 2004
HOTEL RWANDA
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This moving dramatization of the true story
of how one man saved the lives of 1200 people marked
for genocide is certainly one of the best films of
the year. This is a film that shows humanity at
its best and at its worst. Rating: high +3 (-4
to +4) or 9/10
The Rwandan people are composed largely of two tribes: the Hutus and the Tutsis. When the Belgians ran the country they gave most of the political power to the Tutsis. After they left the enmity of the Hutus boiled over and some powerful Hutus wanted to rid the country and the world of Tutsis. The president of Rwanda, who wanted to make peace between the Hutus and the Tutsis, is murdered and the Tutsis are blamed. It is used as an excuse to start racial purification. In a reign of terror the Hutu military attempted to murder all Tutsis. People were commonly being machine-gunned on the street. Families were murdered in their houses.
HOTEL RWANDA tells the true story of one man whose courage and intelligence saved the lives of over a thousand Tutsis. Caught up in this upheaval and massacre was the Hutu Paul Rusesabagina. He was the manager of the Hotel Milles Collines, before the outbreak the posh international hotel in Kigali. Though he professes loyalty to his family alone, the manager gives a few Tutsis refuge in his hotel. Well, one thing kind of leads to another, doesn't it? Rusesabagina was one of the great modern heroes. He saved the lives of 1200 people at great risk to his own.
Terry George directs the drama starring Don Cheadle as Rusesabagina. Nick Nolte has a very much smaller role as a United Nations peacekeeper from Canada. Rusesabagina desperately hopes for an international intervention, but soon it is clear none will come. (The UN has are peaceKEEPERS not peaceMAKERS, as Nolte's character points out cynically.) Britain and the United States have no interests in getting involved. France is supplying the Hutus.
HOTEL RWANDA is a film of epic proportions that puts a human face on the disaster. One possible complaint is that it is a little too much like THE KILLING FIELDS. That film, released twenty years ago, was the best film I saw in the 1980s. Saying HOTEL RWANDA is a lot like it is not entirely a complaint. The film is also a good introduction to the Rwanda Genocide for people who like me knew less than we should. It also raises important questions at a time when many Americans want to see our country intervening less on the world stage. The film suggests the price that policy can cost. (Interestingly I saw this film at its world premiere attended by Michael Moore--who might have interesting perspectives on the film--and also by Paul Rusesabagina.)
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected]
Copyright 2004 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
